


"Puppet" Is Not The Right Word

by renysen



Series: The Human WEAPON [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Cloud is Fate's Bitch, Human Weapon, M/M, Rating May Change, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 21:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1617983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renysen/pseuds/renysen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Planet doesn't care about you. It doesn't care if you hate your enemy. It doesn't care that you want to save your friends. It doesn't care that you exist within a context. In the end, your future and your past are forfeited to a fate you cannot escape from.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Puppet" Is Not The Right Word

**Author's Note:**

> Stress is my greatest muse.

**_“I still get nightmares. In fact, I get them so often I should be used to them by now. I'm not. No one ever really gets used to nightmares.” ― Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves_ **

 

For a moment, he was disoriented. A side glance to his left showed him vaguely familiar people he could almost name huddled together talking, a glance to the right showed him morose boys mostly keeping to themselves or their immediate follow-up right next to them. He eyed a little farther than the group to the left towards the only prominent feature in the hall.

 

Mako Center.

 

The double doors reminded him immediately of the reason the boy’s to his left were talking nonsense and the rest of the room permeated dread. His stomach dropped reminding him of his own worries. Today his squad would be tested for mako incompatibility.

 

“Cloud Strife.” The clipped tone of the assistant scientist called.

 

Somehow his mind seemed to be full of static. I could feel his body moving but he could barely feel himself going through the motions. He is sat in a chair placed parallel to a table, a doctor assures him that it will be a quick procedure and to let him know of anything he may feel afterwards.

 

He opens and closes his hand, the vein in his arm bulging softly against the white of his skin. The needle slipped in with a brief sting and the green vial pressed into his blood torrent. He felt his body flush and his head pulsate, pound beat by heart beat.

 

“Mr. Strife, how are you feeling? Mr. Strife?” The doctor’s voice of concern was a far-off echo. His skin felt too small for him and the air too thin.

 

“Mr. Strife? Mr. Strife?” The doctor didn’t dare move as the body before him changed. The limb of the once gangly teenager stretched and green light materialized black robes around the changing figure. Protocol dictated he should call security but he wasn’t quite certain he wasn’t dreaming.

 

Mako eyes peered into his before an invisible force, flat like a board, slammed him into the wall and unconscious.

 

“Doctor, is everything all right?” A female voice asked.

 

The blond man sprinted down the halls, wolf earring swinging erratically due to the violence of his movements. Screams, warnings and following footsteps met his ears but all he could see was ghosts of a haunting past flashing before his eyes. Minutes later, he recognized the symptoms of his closing throat and hid in a dark, empty room.

 

He was hyperventilating.

 

He pressed his hands against his mouth hoping he wouldn’t faint due to hypoxia and hoping he could actually force air down his windpipe that way. The door opened and Cloud was half way into a panic attack as well. Arms wrapped around his body and nightmare of silver and green met his unwilling rescue.

 

“Hyperventilating? That isn’t good.” The deep rumble of ShinRa’s Silver General made Cloud forget all about breathing.

 

He pushed him as hard as he could and back pedaled as far as he could. A firm grip pulled him back and a pair of lips pressed against his, blowing air into his lungs. He pushed harder but the hands just rearranged their grip. His lungs began to work again but he wouldn’t manage to retain consciousness for long.

 

Sephiroth held on until the body beneath his stopped thrashing and then some. Breathing in through his nose and out to the mouth against his. He felt the body go limp and finally moved away. The bright mako eyes slipping closed as he did, body slowly shrinking until the SOLDIER he had been holding reverted to a teenager.

 

_Just what on Gaia?_

 

**_“The uncertainty, the fear of the unknown was driving him, almost to the point of desperation. He felt as if he was going down a dark stairway, missing a step, hurtling into the unknown and having no idea where he would land.” ― Ken Puddicombe, Racing With The Rain_ **

 

“Mr. Strife? Are you awake?”

 

Cloud felt like he had run a marathon. As unwelcomed as waking was, he could definitely feel the return of consciousness. The starch hospital blankets hardly let him conserve the hope that he had passed the mako reactivity test.

 

He turned to the blue suited Wutaian man seated in a plastic chair next to his bed. Somehow he seemed elegant even in the awkward chair. His legs crossed and back pressed against the chair in seeming comfort.

 

“Did I fail the mako test?” he asked when the other man remained silent.

 

The man’s poker face seemed amazing unforced as he answered, “Why would you say that, Mr. Strife?”

 

“Well, I don’t see the rest of my squad. I don’t think people get a private room when they react well to mako.” He muttered dejectedly, hoping for a firm ‘yes or no’ answer.

 

“What is the last thing you remember, Mr. Strife?” Cloud could feel his skin tingle in alert at the question despite the calm, leisurely voice.

 

Cloud thought back, “The doctor was injecting mako into my arm. Then I thought I was having a heat stroke, only I couldn’t breathe well. It was strange. I suppose I blacked out after that.”

 

“Is there anything else you remember?”

 

Cloud shook his head. “Did something happen while I was out?”

 

The Wutaian man stared at him pinpointedly, as if trying to read Cloud like an open book. Though the man was intimidating, he simply stared back trying to keep his eyes from shifting away. Perhaps that was what the other man wanted to see for he backed down and relaxed his expression.

 

“Though it does not reflect well to our company to say so, we are a bit lost as to what we should do with you, Mr. Strife. You have presented a particular case to our scientists and, with the absence of our Science Department Head, we are forced to wait until he returns.” The man uncrossed his legs and sat forward, elbows resting on his knees and chin pressed against his intertwined fingers.

 

 “The question is: what to do with you, Mr. Strife?”

 

Cloud didn’t answer. Figures, he didn’t need to.

 

“Your squad mates say you are the one who wants to be SOLDIER the most, is that so?”

 

His answer was immediate, “Yes, sir. It has always been a dream of mine.”

 

The foreign man lift one eyebrow, “Oh?” he asked, “Why is that, if you don’t mind me asking. Why do you wish to become SOLDIER?”

 

“To become a hero, like General Sephiroth!”

 

Something like disappointment flashed through the man’s eyes before he stands, “We shall take that into consideration, Mr. Strife. Until next time.”

 

Cloud is left alone with perhaps the worst kind of company: fear.

****

**_"Whenever there is hatred between two people, there is a bond of brotherhood of some kind." - Oscar Wilde,_ ** **De Profundis**

 

Cloud is introduced to Zack Fair and told he is joining the SOLDIER program.

 

He doesn’t know whether to be happy or terrified that it’s due to the incident with the mako injections. Nobody tells him anything and if he had to guess, by the way Zack-

 

_“Don’t call me ‘sir’, kid. We’re going to be friends, okay? Call me Zack!”_

-acted, he would assume the older boy knew nothing about it. Still, Cloud couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the whole thing. Zack informs him that everything is overwhelming when entering the SOLDIER program and he would get over it soon, but Cloud knows something is wrong.

 

“Come on, Spike! You’ll only get a headache if you continue thinking so hard. Let’s go burn all that excess energy with some katas and exercise!” Zack’s enthusiasm almost makes Cloud ashamed of wasting this precious opportunity by thinking himself into circles.

 

Whatever the reason, he was going to be SOLDIER and that was the important part.

 

“Just one more lap, kiddo, and we can move onto sword practice!”  Zack called from across the room as Cloud struggled to keep breathing through his exhaustion. He reached the starting point and slowly to a walk, trying to remember the drills of his previous training days.

 

“You’re doing really well, Squirt!” Zack comes up to him and they sit on the floor for a bit.

 

Cloud flushes at the praise, “You’re a good teacher, Zack.”

 

Zack is thrilled to his bones but holds it in, “Oh come on, Spike! I’ve only been training you for a couple of weeks. Try at least a month before trying to butter me up, ‘kay?”

 

Cloud shakes his head softly, “I mean it, Zack, you’re really good at teaching. I feel it’s easier when you’re around, guiding me, than with any of my drill sergeants.”

 

Zack laughed bringing Cloud into a headlock, “Seriously, kid, I’ve got a girlfriend. No amount of flirting will change that.”

 

Cloud laughed at that as he managed to get around Zack’s arm, “There goes my secret plan.” He deadpanned.

 

“You’ll have to try baking me cookies next time.” Zack cackled.

 

They shared a good laugh before the door opened.

 

“Fair, I need you to signs some papers.”

 

Zack turned to Sephiroth who stopped by the door, “Seph! Just in time, I want you to meet-“

 

A wave of something tingles and the next moment a black-clad figure shoots across the room. Sephiroth met blades with the green glow of sword materializing before them. The blond with glowing mako eyes slashed at him with a long Buster sword, moving quickly and eyes full of murder.

 

“Why won’t you just stay dead?!”

 

Sephiroth had no trouble keeping up with the blades, but their speed was no mean feat.

 

“To ‘stay dead’ I would have had to die first and I’m afraid I have no intention of doing that anytime soon.” In any other situation, he probably would have smirked but the blond man released a gadget in his sword and Sephiroth found himself facing two swords at different speeds.

 

“Cloud? Buddy, is that you?” Zack calls from his place in the room.

 

“Stay out of this, Zack. It’s between him and me.”

 

Sephiroth smiled, “So you’re name is Cloud. It’s a pleasure.”

 

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear that from you!” The blades went faster, but still Sephiroth parried hit by hit. This time, he knew he had lost the advantage of take the fight to a faster speed. He could only hope that the blond grew tired far quicker than he did.

 

Another gadget, another blade.

 

Scratches began to gather on his skin and his hair was being cut near the bottom as he defended as best he could. Masamune could only cover so much area, leaving him with the distinct disadvantage of not being able of defending as thoroughly as he was used to. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

 

A foreign yet familiar sword pushed the blades apart in a move he had seen plenty of times to stop Genesis and himself. Zack was kicked to the opposing wall before any of them could think about it. A cut on his arm was all he could feel before the dark figure disappeared from in front of him and held guard in front of the disoriented SOLDIER.

 

“Zack, are you okay?” Cloud asked, eyes still on Sephiroth though he knelt near his mentor.

 

“No need to have kicked me so hard there, Spike… Not bad though. Caught me completely off-guard, where’d you learn that?”

 

Cloud remained silent, eyes flickering briefly away from Sephiroth to check on Zack. “I’m sorry.”

 

“Just do me a favor and quit fighting each other. I don’t know what beef you got with Sephiroth but we’re allies here. I don’t want my friends fighting each other.” Zack placed his hand on the hand Cloud had the Base Sword in. Finally Cloud let it fall and gave Zack a fuller look, eyes troubled and sad before turning back to Sephiroth as he rearmed First Tsurugi.

 

“I trust you, Zack.” He said softly, before eyeing Sephiroth. Attention completely on the Silver General, “This isn’t over. One day, I will kill you.”

 

This time they saw light covered the man and in his place, left the gangly teen Zack taught. The boy fell over and laid there for various minutes. Sephiroth and Zack stared at each other with similar expressions of confusion.

 

“What just happened?” Zack asked.

 

“Your guess is as good as mine, Lieutenant.”

 

A groan was heard as the blond twitched, “Zack?” his whiny voice carried, “What happened?”

 

The boy sat up with some fatigue. “General Sephiroth, sir, are you alright? Zack, what happened?” He knelt next to Zack and helped him up before they both headed to Sephiroth to check on him.

 

“I’m not sure, kid.” Zack said, still eyeing him weirdly.

 

“You’re not sure?” Cloud asked confused before stopping before Sephiroth, “Are you alright, sir?”

 

The green eyes pierced his own mako enhanced ones with a surprising intensity. Unwilling to back down in front of his idol, he stared back but the confusion in his face must have meant something to the older man because he finally softened his gaze. “What’s your name, Corporal?”

 

Cloud was startled but tried to seem less so and more confident as he said, “Cloud Strife, sir.”

 

Sephiroth allowed his lips to twitch faintly, “Would you be interested in some sword lessons, Cloud?”

 

The flush of admiration, astonishment and delight colored his face as he could barely hold back his smile. “Yes, sir!”

 

“Good. I’ve been needing a new sparring partner for a while now.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not going to update frequently. Next chapter I'm going to be explaining a bit more from Older!Cloud's point of view.


End file.
